The musical world of Lambchop in 2026 consists of: vocals, backing vocals, banjo, guitar. That’s all the new album “Punching The Clown” needs. With this line-up, they’ve created music that lies somewhere between gospel, folk and country. On the one hand, it’s focused and stripped-back. On the other hand, incredibly rich and powerful. By the way, Justin Vernon plays the banjo. And when it came to songwriting, Kurt Wagner was more consistent than ever: he learnt from the best and resolved to give a chance only to songs that could measure up. And so, “Punching The Clown” in the band’s 33rd year is the new masterpiece of the masterful Lambchop discography.

Nashville, 2024: Kurt Wagner drove to the petrol station; an old song was playing on the car radio that he couldn’t get out of his head. “A simple song,” he says, “a banjo holding a single chord, with a few voices singing along.” A mix of folk, country and gospel. “Breathtaking. Beautiful.” For a few days, Wagner tried to find out what this piece was that had so captivated him. He didn’t succeed. Instead, during his research, he came across a form of music that has long been forgotten, yet continues to exert a major influence on country and folk to this day. Wagner stumbled upon the song form known as ‘lining out’, which originated in British churches in the 19th century, at a time when many people could not yet read. A lead singer, known as a “clerk”, would set a simple melody and lyrics, and the congregation would repeat them. This musical form reached the United States via the settlers and flowed into the great American melting pot from which gospel, country and Appalachian folk music developed. A plan had long since taken shape in Kurt Wagner’s mind: to record a Lambchop album that reflects the spirit of this music and of that mysterious song from the radio.

“Punching The Clown” is that album.

It is not unusual for Kurt Wagner to have a precise plan in mind before he sets to work. There are many examples of this in Lambchop’s unique discography. In 1997, Wagner named the third album “Thriller”, hoping that the title alone would multiply sales figures. The Lambchop classic “Nixon” combined soul and country, Curtis Mayfield and Hank Williams in 2000. “Is A Woman”, released two years later, was a piano-driven work; with “FLOTUS” in 2016, Kurt Wagner introduced an autotune effect into the Lambchop universe – for very pragmatic reasons, as he explains: “At the time, the autotune felt like a buddy by my side.”

Essentially, each of the 15 Lambchop albums released to date has pursued the idea of constantly reinventing the band’s sound based on what had already been created. One might think that after 33 years and with album number 16, there couldn’t be much left to offer. And then comes “Punching The Clown”: within seconds, you find yourself in a new Lambchop world where everything sounds fresh yet wonderfully familiar. It feels like returning to a favourite place in a dream.